HEMP FOOD HAS FINALLY BEEN GIVEN THE GREEN LIGHT in Australia as of 12th November 2017.

To clear up some of the confusion though, what has been approved is the use of hemp seed products as food.

This has not cleared the way for leaf or other restricted parts of the plant to be used, in fact, whole hemp seed is not allowed for retail sales. The legislation clearly states that “if the food is for retail sale the seeds must be non-viable and hulled”.

The legislation is strict, and testing regimes are tight, but we can meet the conditions.

To be classed as a food the following applies:-

Hemp Seed Oil – must not contain more than 10 mg/kg (10ppm or 0.0010%) of THC & THCA combined

Beverages derived from the seed – must not contain more than 0.2mg/kg (0.2ppm or 0.00002%) THC & THCA combined

Any other product derived from seed – must not contain more than 5 mg/kg (5ppm or 0.0005%) THC and THCA.

All hemp seed products must only have naturally occuring CBD and must not be more than 75mg/kg (75ppm or 0.0075%)

When the original application for the approval of food was first sought way back in 1999, we started growing industrial hemp in Tasmania with the expectation of food approval. Well we have waited a long time, growing crops each year, doing research on production, growing techniques, varieties etc all in the hope for this day. Its been a long haul.

So look out of the 100% Australian grown and processed products.

In fact be very savy about your hemp food products. Make sure you get 100% product of Australia and not “made in Australia”, because new import conditions for hemp seed now mean the seed comes in “dead” and has to be treated.